1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine compartment hood latch structure for a motor vehicle body having a soft-nose outer skin panel and a hood providing an overlying structure for a grille opening reinforcing front cross member.
2. Related Art
Pedestrian safety is an important issue with an ever increasing number of vehicles on our roads. Many pedestrian crashes involve a forward moving vehicle, such as a car. During such a crash, a standing or walking pedestrian is struck by the front part of the vehicle and accelerated to the speed of the vehicle and then continues forward as the vehicle brakes to a halt. In such a crash the front part of the vehicle, particularly the leading edge of the engine compartment hood, often hits the upper leg, e.g. thigh or pelvis, of the pedestrian, potentially causing limb injuries.
In a pedestrian vehicle crash situation it is desirable that the pedestrian's contact with the vehicle be as “forgiving” as possible, so as to minimize injury to the pedestrian. However, at the same time the front part of the vehicle has to withstand a number of demands during daily use, such as the vehicle being pushed and persons sitting thereupon. Furthermore, when the engine compartment hood is closed, it should be securely latched in its closed state in order to prevent the hood from being opened by relative wind and vibrations during operation of the vehicle. In the event of a collision with a pedestrian, the hood should be deformed in a predetermined manner in order to mitigate the impact. It is therefore important that the hood latch structure be capable of retaining the engine hood in a closed state during a collision.
Solutions are known that adopt the passive shape of the front part of the vehicle, according to a so-called “soft nose” configuration often constructed from a thermoplastic material, which partially also will serve to mitigate collisions with pedestrians. By “soft nose” is often referred to a front bumper cover which meets the hood at a rearward position. However, some problems may remain, e.g. that the energy created by the impact is not absorbed in a sufficient manner so as to reduce the range of injuries and also that any rigid underlying structures, e.g. conventional hood latches, cause injuries when impacted. In order to mitigate the contact between an impacted pedestrian and an underlying hood latch structure it is known to provide deformation zones in the overlying structure, usually the hood, which zones, however, are disadvantageous from a packaging aspect as they add to the required space between the outer panel of the vehicle and the latch structure.
It would be desirable to provide an improved pedestrian safety hood latch structure for a vehicle body that may eliminate, or at least reduce, the problems described above.